> * Roughly half their time is spent doing research and keeping up with the latest trends
Depends a lot on current workload. Generally speaking I think freelancers spend more time learning than in-house people do. BUT maybe that's just a top-performer vs. normal-performer trait and top-performers correlate well with freelancers for various reasons (the challenges usually come quicker and are more varied than at a company).
> * They probably left the workplace to bootstrap their own startup someday
Or just because they have the drive, discipline, and motivation to actually make it on their own. The freedom is pretty great.
> * Their productivity usually goes down if they are on call or interrupted often
This is true for everyone on the maker schedule. Even employees.
> * Beware loose specs and feature creep or you might burn them out and lose them
Depends on savviness of freelancer. Feature creep ain't bad at all if you're on retainer for X days/week. But sucks tremendously on fixed rate projects.
> * Sometimes they solve problems completely differently than you imagined and that’s ok
Everyone sometimes does this.
> * Perks and benefits probably aren’t in their vocabularies unless they have families to support
As a 27 year old cynical bastard I don't really need perks and benefits. Just pay me more, I can handle my own "free" lunch and stuff. Promise.